With so much inequality in the U.K., the sixth most unequal country in the world, the hefty £32 million price tag for the royal wedding is a slap in the face to U.K. citizens who have seen their standard of living and benefits decline over years of government-imposed austerity.

LONDON – The royal wedding between the U.K.’s Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle, due to take place today, has been in the headlines for some time, serving as a convenient distraction from other major events – from the mass shooting of unarmed protesters in Gaza to efforts by certain U.S. officials to sabotage the Korean peace talks.

Be Sociable, Share!

Whitney Webb

Whitney Webb is a writer and researcher for The Last American Vagabond and a MintPress News contributor and former staff writer. She has contributed to several independent media outlets and her work has been featured by The Real News Network, The Ron Paul Institute, The Zero Hour, and The Jimmy Dore Show, among others. She has made several radio and television appearances and is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.

The IRS is attempting – for the third time – to use private debt collection companies to recover unpaid taxes from delinquent taxpayers. But experts warn that using such companies could lead to unfair treatment for borrowers and an increase in imposter tax scams.

No agency can kill a buzz quicker than the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, but behind the scenes state liquor regulators have shown they know how to party — all on the tab of taxpayers and members of an industry they oversee.
Consider the boozy junket the top TABC brass took to San Diego in the summer of 2015 — depicted in a humorous

The fiscal 2018 price for President Trump's border wall is in: $2.6 billion. That's a cost to U.S. taxpayers, not a cost many people any longer think will be picked up by the Mexican government.
As first installments go, it's a pretty big number. Indeed, its size can be appreciated in one powerful way by setting it against some of the many

In conversation with noted political philosopher Noam Chomsky, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said neoliberalism is “just 19th century power politics of crushing anyone who dares stand up to them and say a simple word, ‘No.’”

AUSTIN, Texas --- According to noted political philosopher and scholar Noam Chomsky, neoliberal politicians are hypocrites who prioritize corporate finances over both taxpayers’ well-being and their own economic principles.
In April, Chomsky sat down with Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister and founder of the

Who do billionaires turn to when they want to buy apartment complexes? The U.S. taxpayer.
Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Capital Group and Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group LP are in talks with Freddie Mac to finance two transactions totaling more than $10 billion, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations. Those discussions come